GE claims victory in bid for TIP

GE CAPITAL, the giant US conglomerate, gained effective control of TIP Europe, the trailer-rental company, yesterday despite an eleventh-hour rejection of the offer by two investors, writes John Murray.

The American company announced that shareholders speaking for 51.3 per cent of TIP had accepted the offer, which was recommended by the TIP board, by its first close yesterday.

On Tuesday, Tiphook, which competes with TIP in the trailer- rental market, announced that it would not accept the offer for its 5.5 per cent holding in TIP. Tiphook was joined by a US corporation, Itel, which holds 3.5 per cent.

They said the offer of 42p cash per share was inadequate.

John Nelson of Lazard Brothers, which is advising GE, said that Tiphook's announcement had caused 'a little flutter in the dovecots', but that GE remained confident of the bid's success.

The offer has been extended by two weeks but is conditional on the successful conclusion of an environmental audit.

TIP's shares closed unchanged at 411 2 p, just 1 2 p below the offer price. They stood at 251 2 p just before the bid was launched. Tiphook's shares eased 1p to 251p.